DITO Telecom hits 3 million subscribers

The country’s third telecommunications firm DITO Telecommunity Corp. said it breached 3 million subscribers on Wednesday morning, as the company rolled out its services in more areas across the country.

DITO earlier said it will expand its network service to 53 more areas this month, which would bring its coverage to 286 cities and municipalities.

It added 17 areas in Luzon to its coverage last week, and five more will be added by Friday, September 24 — Balagtas, Bulacan; Bacolor, Pampanga; Santa Barbara, Pangasinan; Malasiqui, Pangasinan; and Sibulan, Negros Oriental.

Chief Administrative Officer Adel Tamano earlier said the company records about 20,000 new subscribers daily, and expressed hope to reach the 3-million mark before the end of September.

“We find this very positive. It shows you the appetite of the market for a new player. We are on pace to get around five to six million subscribers by the end of year,” he said in a virtual briefing earlier this month.

The firm said it hit 2 million subscribers on August 1, or five months since its commercial launch in March. It plans to hit 6 million subscribers by the end of the year.

The DITO consortium is made up of Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy's Udenna Corporation, Udenna's subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Holdings Inc., and Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation.

Shares in DITO CME Holdings Corp., the holdings company for Uy's communications media and entertainment businesses, are trading down 11 centavos or 1.41% at P7.70 apiece as of 10:21 a.m. Tuesday. — RSJ, GMA News